High demand, low supply make new condos the belles of the NYC housing ball

Sep 16, 2012

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432 Park Avenue just might be the vertically blessed poster child of the latest explosion in condo prices.

The $1.2 billion project, set to be the city’s tallest residential tower, plans to increase asking prices for its 128 units to an average of $5,800 a square foot. A one-bedroom condominium will start at $4.96 million and a six-bedroom at $64.4 million, according to filings with the state attorney general’s office.

432 Park Ave. is one of 15 new condo projects who have submitted pricing plans this year to the attorney general’s office, which has to green-light them before sales commence, according to Crain’s. As of last week, plans for new 27 condos, co-ops or conversions in Manhattan had been sent to the attorney general’s office in 2012. That’s a total of 875 new construction units.

Corcoran Sunshine predicts that sales of new apartments will outstrip growth in supply through 2015 through 2015, Crain’s reported. 1,980 units were absorbed from March 31, 2011 to March 31 this year. Compare this to the 1,676 units anticipated to hit the market in the next three years.

Other new condo projects benefiting from high demand, low supply and wince-inducing rental prices are Tribeca conversion 46 Lispenard St. (9 out of 11 units sold after 1 week on the market, from $2.65 million for a two-bedroom to almost $8 million for a four-bedroom) and 50-unit Chelsea conversion Walker Tower (more than 30 percent sold after less than three months on the market).